Herb Butter

Our Garlic Herb Butter is loaded with tons of fresh herbs and minced garlic. It’s a cinch to make, and goes great on steak, chicken, pork, seafood, or your favorite toast.

If you’re ever at a loss for how to add flavor to a dish, a great compound butter is an easy solution. Our garlic herb butter is packed with fresh herbs and minced garlic and tastes great with so many different foods. We love to serve it with baked corn on the cob, or on steak, fish, and chicken.

Top down view of fresh herb butter.

Garlic Herb Butter Recipe:

John and I started making different flavors of compound butter years ago to add to our favorite recipes. It only made sense if we were already adding butter, garlic, and seasonings to a recipe, why not have it already prepared in a butter that we could grab at any time?

There are so many different varieties from sweet to savory, like cinnamon butter which is great on rolls, to Cajun butter which is amazing on steak. If you can think up a flavor combination, you can probably put it into a compound butter.

I like to keep things simple and go for an easy, flavorful herb butter. It makes awesome garlic cheese toast and is perfect if you want to add some flavor to the inside of some buns for lobster rolls or spread some on a piece of olive bread.

How to Make Herb Butter:

  1. Place the softened butter, garlic, fresh herbs, parsley, salt, and pepper into a bowl.
  2. Stir to combine.
  3. Transfer the butter mixture to a large piece of plastic wrap and twist the ends tight, so no butter can seep out.
  4. Place the butter into the refrigerator to firm up.
  5. Unwrap, cut, and use in your favorite recipe.
Collage showing how to make herb butter.

Tips and Variations:

  • Butter: I used unsalted butter for this recipe that way I could control how much salt was added. If you want to use salted butter, reduce or omit the salt from the recipe. Make sure the butter is soft enough to mix with a spoon. It’s best to set it out a couple hours ahead of time, so it has plenty of time to soften up.
  • Mixer: A hand mixer or stand mixer can be used to mix the ingredients. The only downside is that they tend to beat up the fresh herbs. The more delicate herbs end up bruised and can turn dark in color.
  • Herbs: I like to use whatever fresh herbs I have on hand. Usually that’s a mixture of thyme, oregano, rosemary, and basil. Feel free to switch these up however you like or add some of your other favorites.
  • Garlic: I added some raw garlic to the herb butter just to give it some additional flavor, but that can be omitted if you don’t like garlic. On the other hand, if you love garlic, add a little more. You can also use garlic powder or jarred garlic.
  • Salt and Pepper: Adjust these as needed. I go a little on the heavy side, because this butter will ultimately be seasoning whatever food its added to. There needs to be a decent amount of salt and pepper in the seasoning.
Garlic butter with fresh herbs on a spoon holder.

Storage Recommendations:

Room Temperature: According to an article from the USDA, butter can be left out at room temperature. However, if butter is left out at room temperature for several days, the flavor can turn rancid so it’s best to leave out whatever you can use within a day or two.

Refrigerator: The herb butter will stay fresh when stored wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator for about 7 to 10 days.

Freezer: Wrap the butter in a couple layers of plastic wrap, then add a layer of aluminum foil. The butter will stay good in the freezer for 3 to 4 months.

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Top down view of herb butter on a black spoon holder.

Herb Butter

5 from 1 vote
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Author: Kim
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Refrigeration Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 16 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped herbs, (rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, etc.)
  • 2 garlic cloves, small in size, finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt, or adjust to taste
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, or adjust to taste

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl, combine the butter, parsley, herbs, garlic, salt, and pepper.
    1 cup unsalted butter
    2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
    2 tablespoons freshly chopped herbs
    2 garlic cloves
    1 teaspoon salt
    ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • Form the ingredients into a log on a piece of plastic wrap, and roll closed. Twist the ends to secure.
  • Place the butter into the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours to firm.
  • Serve on toast, steak, corn on the cob, sauteed vegetables, etc.
  • See post for storage options.

Suggested Equipment

Notes

*The calories listed are an approximation based on the ingredients in the recipe card and a serving size of 1 tablespoon prepared butter. Actual calories will vary.
 
*For more information, tips, and answers to frequently asked questions, please refer to the post.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoonCalories: 103kcalCarbohydrates: 0.2gProtein: 0.2gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 148mgPotassium: 11mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 0.02gVitamin A: 439IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 6mgIron: 0.1mg
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